At this year’s Geneva show, Porsche stunned everyone by revealing the 918 Spyder concept. Has the Hybrid Supercar finally arrived?

The Geneva crowds stood around, expecting to see the new Cayenne, the 997 GT3 RS and maybe a special edition or two. What they got, no-one was expecting. Out of the darkness rolled a 708bhp low slung supercar, which produces just 70 g/km of CO2 and manages 94mpg combined.

Now we’ll be first to admit that those claims have got to be more than a little ‘massaged’, but even if half of those figures it will still be leagues ahead of rivals.

On the performance side, it’s driven by a V8 producing more than 368 kW (500 PS / 493 hp) plus three electric motors putting out 160 kW (218 PS / 215 hp).  That gives the two-seater a combined power output of 528 kW (718 PS / 708 hp) resulting in a 0 to 100 km/h sprint in just 3.2 seconds, top speed of 320 km/h (198 mph), and a lap time on the Nurburgring Nordschleife in less than 7:30 minutes, which is faster than the Porsche Carrera GT.

Interestingly, although the 918 Concept is clearly a study, Porsche has stated that  if 1000 ‘expressions of interest’ were received, they would strongly consider production. Now as most supercar fans will know – that means they are already going to produce it, as they know fully well that they will get more than 1000 interested people. And this has been borne true as less than 3 weeks after showing it for the first time, the interest count was already above 800.

So will we see a 918 Spyder roaring (or breezing silently) past in the near future? We certainly hope so. As it is a truly stunning car: